Brain and Behavior (Dec 2023)

The German version of the tablet‐based UCSF Brain Health Assessment is sensitive to early symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders

  • Gianina Toller,
  • Lorena Stäger,
  • Dilaxy Kumurasamy,
  • Patrick Callahan,
  • Florian Köhn,
  • Thomas Münzer,
  • Ursi Kunze,
  • Andreas U. Monsch,
  • Kate Possin,
  • Katherine P. Rankin,
  • Ansgar Felbecker

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.3329
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 12
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Introduction: Cognition often remains unassessed in primary care. To improve early diagnosis of neurocognitive disorder (NCD) in Switzerland, the tablet‐based UCSF brain health assessment (BHA) and brain health survey (BHS) were validated. Methods: The German BHA, BHS, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were administered to 67 patients with mild/major NCD and 50 controls. BHA includes subtests of memory, executive, visuospatial, and language functioning, and informant‐based BHS asks about behavior and motor functioning. Results: The complete instrument (BHA + BHS) was most accurate at detecting mild NCD (AUC = 0.95) and NCD without amyloid pathology (AUC = 0.96), followed by the BHA. All measures were accurate (all AUCs > 0.95) at distinguishing major NCD and NCD with amyloid pathology (Alzheimer's disease [AD]) from controls. Discussion: The German BHA and BHS are more sensitive to mild NCD and non‐AD presentations than the MoCA and thus have a high potential to identify patients with NCD in primary care earlier than currently used screens.

Keywords